The market size for NFTs in 2022 is $35 billion, and it will grow to $80 billion by 2025 according to Jefferies. In January 2022, OpenSea sold $5 billion worth of NFTs.
Here's how I think the space will evolve.
Niche marketplaces
NFT marketplaces will cater to niches.
Marketplaces like OpenSea and LooksRare sell every kind of NFT. We'll start seeing marketplaces who cater to a specific niche (e.g. Foundation focusses on 1-1 NFTs).
Ownership in marketplaces
Users will demand ownership in marketplaces.
OpenSea received criticism for not rewarding users for participation. LooksRare does this for its users. I believe users will expect this from NFT marketplaces.
Analytics tools
Spotting the right NFT today is overwhelming.
Today, NFT users rely on a variety of sources to spot upcoming opportunities and its painful. We’re seeing platforms crop up to solve this need already. Platforms like Moby.gg and nonfungible.com are building tools in this space. We’re still very early.
Cheaper transactions
The biggest barrier to buying an NFT is gas fees.
I wanted to buy an NFT from Mario Gabrielle’s Foxes series. Gas fees held me back. I needed to spend between 10% - 20% of the price of the NFT on gas fees. We’re going to see more NFTs on L1s like Solana and L2s like Polygon.
Fraud prevention
NFT fraud is a chain reaction.
If an NFT is stolen, another user might buy it on a marketplace without realising it. When they try to sell the NFT, they may be blocked. Fraud a big problem in the NFT market, and it needs solving.